I'm seriously thinking about getting just a JCW suspension...no lowering...no coilovers...none of that. But, I don't like a whole lot of wheel gap either. So, if you have pictures of your Mini with JCW shocks and springs, I would love to see how it looks.

Please don't let those "LOOK AT THAT WHEEL GAP "-Posters deter you from posting pics

Oh, please also say what size rims/tires you have. THANKS

 

Honestly, I think it looks the same with the JCW suspension.

Pictures of the Velvet Red (brown) MINI in my flickr stream:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/snid/

17x7" wheels with 205/40R17 RA-1:


Stock 16x6.5" with 205/50R16:



15x6" steelies with 185/65R15 snows (not much wheelgap - maybe it will start a trend :D ):


16x7.5" with 215/45R16:

bad lighting in this shot makes the wheel gap look even bigger:


I think I have a few more wheel & tire combos in my photo stream somewhere. :D

The difference in ride height is small enough that you're not going to see it in pictures. You probably won't even see it in person.

 

See the hyperlink in my signature ; )

 

WOw thanks for the pics...both of your Mini's look great! Its interesting that in some of the photos the gap is quite small...and I thats when the 16's are on the wheel. I noticed that the 225/50/16's are 24.8" or 24.9". I believe with a JCW suspension it lowers the car .4". So the difference in gap would be about 1" to 1.1".

Getting close to being convinced on the JCW suspension...since it seems lowering might cause other unwanted issues and cost alot more $ and time to get it right....

 

The half inch lowering really doesn't change the appearance.

 

I run 225/50R16 Continental ContiSportContact 2s because they're a very light (21lbs) high performance summer tire with a 24.7" diameter.

The only place that rubbed was the rear fender flares- I trimmed .25" off the inside of the flare & it hasn't rubbed since (JCW suspension & 16x7 SSRs W/42mm offset).

In comparison, the stock 205/45R17 runflats weigh 22lbs & have a 24.2" diameter. For me, losing 60+ lbs of rotating mass with better traction/ride more than makes up for the infinitesimal overall gearing change.

 

Does a suspension really "settle"? I've heard some say that it will....just wondering how much people have actually witnessed their suspension settle...

 

yes. I've noticed this on half a dozen cars that I've done swaps on. They always ended up settling a bit lower than when first installed.

 

You can look at Maxi's car he has had the JCW kit on his car for a while now. Remember the more you reduce the wheel gap the harder the ride will be. It all depends on what ride quality you can handle. It is all about compromising.

 

Yes they do. The spring in a box isn't used to any from of pressure sitting directly on it so it is fully uncompressed. Once the springs are on the car it has all the weight of the car on it which will both compress the spring and allow the spring "settle" or "break-in"... With some springs the difference isn't much, with others it is.

For example, we installed Eibach Pro-Kit springs and 550i wheels on my dads 08 535i and after just one night the rear springs have settled in a little bit and are now sitting lower than when first installed. I believe they'll drop another bit within the next couple of days.

And BTW, there are no other problems associated with a mild drop. Just get some rear lower control arms and get an alignment done..

 

That's not necessarily true either. On H-Sports the ride was CONSIDERABLY smoother than stock... Spring rates play a big role in how much your ride suffers, in this case the progressive rate spring actually betters ride quality..

 

Rear control arms are not needed with the JCW suspension. An alignment, yes. But the camber gain in the rear is small enough that adjustable arms are not necessary (unless you're really really picky).

 

Thanks! Such great information here...I love NAM!

 

Once you get past all the crap people talk haha

Get H-Sports AT LEAST (m7's preferably, more drop)!!! Your LE37T's will love you for it...

 

+1 I noticed that on my MINI and just recently put them on my wife's MINI and it is better than stock. She has OEM tires/wheels as well

 

MAN! I love velvet red, such a shame you can't get it anymore....

 

Why not consider the Dinan suspension?

MC2 did a comparison late last year and found the JCW and Dinan offerings to be close in cost and warranty. The Dinan kit outshined the JCW kit in the handling and ride categories.

I installed the Dinan S2 kit with IE fixed plates earlier this year. In June I had the opportunity to do some hot laps on the Zandvoort race track during Mini United and was very impressed with how everything meshed. It was raining and I was still able to stay on the bumper of the 2008 MCS pace car with no problem; the other seven cars in our group were stretchen out over 300 meters behind us.

 

JCW suspension, 18"x7.5" w/ 225x35/18".